Smollett's next court appearance is scheduled for March 14. The tense courtroom appearance followed on the heels of a morning press conference at which a visibly angry Eddie Johnson, Chicago's police superintendent, castigated the actor for betraying his race and his city with such an incendiary false claim. "Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career," a visibly angry Johnson said. “I am left hanging my head asking ‘why?’. Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? ... How can an individual who's been embraced by the city of Chicago turn around and slap everyone in the city in the face with these false claims?"